Sunday at church, we learned “… not to be ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, then to the Greek” (Romans 1:16, ESV).
At church service, we had a guest speaker from the people who call Christ Community Church of Weare, NH their home. The speaker said that “ashamed” would be better translated as “offended.” That brought back memories of how the myriad of times that I failed the Lord Jesus Christ in telling about the reason I am spiritually alive.
Last year, I had the perfect opportunity to share the reason for my faith in Jesus Christ in the waiting area of my doctor’s office. See, I was wearing shorts and a “BELIEVER” by Kutless t-shirt. One person made a funny comment on it bringing back the old 1966 song by the Monkeys. That was my opportunity that I prayed for, and I just made some joking comment back. The Holy Spirit immediately convicted me. I just thought of my hours of prayer for me to have the opportunity to use that t-shirt had gone to waist. I was feeling pretty down just as the apostle Peter must have felt when he denied being with Jesus Christ when Jesus Christ was on His way to face Pilate again (Matthew 26:69-75).
I can’t believe that I failed the Lord Jesus Christ that way. Praise God that He is full of forgiveness as the resurrected Jesus challenged Peter 3 times to feed His “sheep,” the same number of times Peter denied Jesus (John 21:15-22). Jesus has the power to forgive just as He had forgiven Peter. However, Jesus said “feed My sheep” which means He has the power to forgive only if you tell others what Jesus Christ did for you. True, salvation is only gained through faith in Jesus (Romans 1:16), but it is required that do your best work to bring someone along with you (James 2:14-26).
Here is some links to YouTube videos that I think you might like:
“I am a believer” by the Monkeys
“Forgiveness” by Toby Mac ft. Lecrae
“Ask & It Shall Be Forgiven you” documentary ft. Director Jimmy Z
TrueLifeChristianity.com 